The Bangalore City Traffic Police will strictly enforce driver display card rule for cab drivers, introduced to ensure the safety of passengers, from June 1.
More than 35,000 drivers have obtained display cards and another 5,000 to 6,000 drivers are yet to obtain them.
The authorities have geared up to enforce the rule and said case under “violation of permit condition” would be booked against drivers not displaying the cards.
The traffic police would not collect any fine, and instead, refer the case to the jurisdictional court where the driver has to pay the fine, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic), M.A. Saleem said.
He said the State transport department had issued a circular bringing driver display card under one of the permit conditions.
In April, when the traffic police began soft implementation of the rule, about 200 cases were booked and drivers paid the fine in courts, Mr. Saleem said.
Impact on tourism
The Bangalore Tourist Taxi Owners’ Association, though welcoming the move, said strict implementation of the rule was bound to affect the tourism industry.
Association secretary K. Radharishna Holla told The Hindu that about 25 per cent of the 1.2 lakh cab drivers in Bangalore did not possess “driver’s badge,” which is mandatory to drive a transport vehicle.
Without the badge, the driver cannot get the display card from the police. Already there is a shortage of over 10,000 drivers in Bangalore, he said.
A recent amendment to the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, making 8th standard pass mandatory to obtain a badge has come in the way of these drivers, he said.
A badge is nothing but a certificate that the driver is aware of providing first aid, he added.
“Let the government relax this rule and we will not have any objection to the display card rule. In fact, we have been coercing our eligible drivers to get the cards since three months,” he said.
Seizure
The operators are also against the traffic police seizing the vehicle when the driver does not possess the card for permit condition violation.
Mr. Holla said, “Seizure entails court case and hiring of an advocate and it takes at least two days to get the vehicle released. While the court fine varies from Rs. 2,300 to Rs. 2,700, the total expenditure comes to over Rs. 4,000. Therefore let the police impose spot fine for violation of the card rule.”
